Enewsletter

Enewsletter • June 3, 2002

For the month of June:

About a year ago, I was obese. It was fast
foods morning, noon, and night. I loved meat and didn't like vegetables.
My triglycerides were two times the normal rate. A stroke or heart
attack was around the corner. The only thing that could break my
meat-eating habit was reading about and seeing pictures of the
awful factory farms and slaughter process. I was shocked to learn
these poor animals suffered so much. I cried and cried. Thank you
for sending me the box of Why Vegan booklets.JD, Phenix City, AL, 5/21/02

ANNOUNCEMENT, REQUEST, & COMMENTARY

Record Pace of Distribution

In 2001, the members of Vegan Outreach set a record for distribution
of Why Vegan?
and Vegetarian
Living – 330,856, which topped the previous record of 327,723
in 1999.

By May 31 of this year, Why Vegan? and Vegetarian Living
distribution has passed 213,000. This vast increase over any previous
period in Vegan Outreach's history puts us on pace for more than
a half million over the course of the year – not including the
distribution via the tours that start in autumn!

Putting a half million copies of Why Vegan? and Vegetarian Living into a population of 287 million people may seem insignificant; however,
given our resources, we believe this is the most efficient course
of action to help end the exploitation and suffering of animals in
our society. On a budget of less than $150,000 – a tiny fraction
of the budget of many animal advocacy groups – Vegan Outreach is
providing compelling information to an ever-expanding pool of new,
interested people, many of whom will in turn become effective activists
(see commentary below).

We will need to print more copies to be able to continue to fill
orders for the rest of the year. The more copies we can print at
a time, the lower the per-piece cost will be. Vegan Outreach is dependent
on donations from you, our members, to be able to print and ship
these booklets. We hope you agree that this is the most efficient
use of our resources. Please consider making an online
donation (or sending a check to Vegan Outreach, 211 Indian Dr.,
Pittsburgh, PA 15238-1222) to help us print more!

(A Portion of) A View of the Future

by Matt Ball

The one thing I think would most aid the promotion of compassionate
living is to cultivate good activists. An example:

Tabling once at the University of Illinois about ten years ago,
I was debating a dairy farmer and drawing a crowd. One of the people
passing – Joe Espinosa – overheard, took some literature, joined
the student group, went vegetarian and then vegan, and "converted"
a number of friends and his girlfriend, Marsha Forsman.

Joe and Marsha are now literature-distributing machines in the Chicago
area. They keep a number of stores, libraries, shops, and restaurants
stocked with Why Vegans; it is safe to assume that nearly
every booklet picked up from these locations is read at least once.
Marsha and Joe leaflet somewhere nearly every weekend. They have
also done a considerable amount of outreach to minority groups.

This has gone on for years.

Marsha and Joe go out of their way to meet activists who "need
Why Vegans for an event tomorrow!" For example, they
recently delivered a box of Why Vegans to a band who was to
perform in Chicago on the very day they asked us for literature.
They send us generous donations on a regular basis to help print
more copies of Why Vegan, and have applied for funding to
aid their educational efforts. So far, they have not found anyone
interested in supporting them, despite their huge success in reaching
thousands of people a month. Still, they plug away!

If you look at our database, you'll see their impact. We have significantly
more members in Chicago than any other city, including New York,
Atlanta (where Vegan Outreach co-founder Jack Norris was active for
years), and the vegan hotbed of the country, Pittsburgh.

Joe and Marsha know that, as long as we have some available, they
can order as many Why Vegans as they can use. We know that
everything we send them will be used well.

In my personal opinion, Joe and Marsha are worth several FaunaVision
tours, or any number of advertisements and media stories. We hope
more people will follow their lead.

News

Still a B12 Skeptic?

A new complete and updated version of Jack Norris' review of B12
research and literature is now available on our website as a downloadable
PDF file (1MB). If you do not think vegans need to bother making
sure they have a consistent intake of vitamin B12, or have questions
about some of the claims you have read, please download and read
this version. You can read the online
summary of the recommendations, too.

It is vital that we remain abreast of current research, so as not
to harm the health of vegans, and subsequently, the spread of veganism.
For example, as we were putting this issue of Vegan Spam together,
we received a request to advertise a new spirulina cookbook. Spirulina
was presented as a source of B12, when in fact, the best current
understanding is that spirulina can actually harm one's B12 status.

"A USDA proposed regulation requiring poultry to have access
to the outdoors could result in serious problems for the egg industry,
according to United Egg Producer comments on draft recommendations
of the organic rule."

"By definition, AFOs produce large amounts of waste in small
areas. For example, a single dairy cow produces approximately 120
pounds of wet manure per day (Nitrate Working Group, CDFA 1989:27).
Estimates equate the waste produced per day by one dairy cow to that
of 20-40 humans per day."

"Its something most Americans take for granted 
that the food in our local supermarket is safe. But we recently heard
something that made us question that so we went to investigate and
we took our hidden cameras with us. What we found may leave you wondering
whether the meat, poultry and fish you buy is as fresh as you think.
Are some of Americas biggest supermarket chains being less
than honest about the freshness of the food you buy."

Book Review: A Vegan Taste of the Caribbean by Linda Majzlik

This book is an exciting collection of exotic and flavorful vegan
recipes which, once you obtain the unusual ingredients, are easy
to prepare. In general, the book is written for people already familiar
with exotic, lesser-known foods such as paw paw, plantain, aubergine,
eddo, christophenes, jingy, courgette, sulanans, demerara sugar,
and starfruit.

A glossary and source guide, including a brief description and history
of the lesser-known ingredients would remove the intimidation factor
for American readers. But for those very disciplined and motivated
vegans, this is a good book to discover new things and have fun at
the same time.

Vegan Outreach is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing the suffering of farmed animals by promoting informed, ethical eating.